Compleat targets “last virgin in the accounting market”

Following a rollercoaster launch, purchase automation specialist Compleat Software reports its revenues have grown from £600,000 to more than £2.6m in just four months. The firm, which has spent the last two years productising software it acquired in 2008, has also signed 14 new partners.

Compleat helps automate budgetary control and is compatible with the majority of financial and popular ERP software platforms. The firm also has a staggered pricing model based on the complexity of the core financial or ERP package the software is integrated alongside. Feedback from customers suggests that users of Compleat save two to three percent on procurement costs and reduce unauthorised budgetary overspend by 25 to 50 percent.

“Firms are entering an age of austerity,” Neil Robertson, CEO of Compleat told Channel Pro. “[Companies] want to maximise the use of their assets – we give the board of directors more control over cash when the paperwork hasn’t caught up with the state of the business.”

Parnters
Robertson also points out a lack of rival platform-independent purchase automation systems, as most other systems are aligned to individual ERP or accounting packages. Compleat is targeting a swathe of potential partners with expertise in Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, SAP, Coda and Sageline, among others. The firm is also developing connectors for Navision and Axapta.

“This is the last virgin in the accounting market,” Robertson quips. “Accounting products typically remain for 12 years – partners have got good at upgrading and servicing but opportunities for new business are diminishing.

“The attraction of Compleat is it provides them with a new capital sale that has a fast ROI – it also helps them to become experts in procurement and new consulting opportunities,” adds Robertson, although he admits the benefits of its software are more applicable to larger organisations.

Campaign
Compleat is about to launch an end user campaign to increase awareness around purchase automation and e-procurement. The firm is to run around 70 workshops and breakfast briefings over the next three months in conjunction with its partners. The campaign is tailored for individual partners using their logos, details and contact databases supplemented by an extensive list compiled by Compleat.
“The campaign has given the channel focus, which will generate pipeline and sales,” says Robertson.